Distribution, levels, and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the soot of some kitchens in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

The effect of using firewood for cooking, baking, and heating in poorly ventilated kitchens on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in kitchen soot in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana has been studied. The kitchens in Ghana, especially those in the rural areas, are simple clay hut structures with small doors. The kitchens have little or no openings for ventilation and, as a result, the cook is exposed directly to high doses of smoke containing different compounds including PAH. In this study, a total of 42 soot samples were collected for 6 weeks from seven kitchens and analyzed using gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection (GC/FID). The average PAH concentration in the kitchen soot samples ranged from 0.7 to 445 µg kg⁻¹. The unit risk of PAH associated with the dermal contact/inhalation of the kitchen soot occurred at 7.4 × 10⁻³ in children and at 4.8 × 10⁻⁵ in the adults, showing the impact. However, the high level of PAH measured in this work especially that of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) may cause cancer in the women who are exposed to the smoke. The study was therefore designed to find out the level of PAH in kitchen soot and their contributions as the monitoring tools in the assessment of risks and hazards of PAH in Ghana.

Keywords:

• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• soot
• risk assessment
• Cape Coast Metropolis
• kitchens

Acknowledgments

The researchers would want to thank the laboratory staff of the Ghana Water Research Institute of CSIR and Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for making their laboratories available for this research. Also, we would like to thank the Government of Ghana for the financial assistance.